How to: Upgrade to vSphere 4.1

With yesterdays release of vSphere 4.1 comes the challenge to upgrade your existing installation to this new version. Because I have been testing the beta for a while now, I couldn´t wait to try it in our new testing environment.

However, there are a few caveats:

VMware released a KB article with the supported upgrade methods for ESX(i) 3.0.x, 3.5 and 4 full, embedded or installable;
Do NOT upgrade vCenter server to version 4.1 if you are using VMware View Composer 2.0.x. Check out this VMware KB article for more information.

Before you start the upgrade process, back-up the vCenter- and Update Manager databases.

After downloading the needed ISO´s, I started with the upgrade of the vCenter server.

But first of all, I had to uninstall all incompatible vCenter components, in this case Guided Consolidation 4.0.

When this is done, it´s time to update the vCenter server.

vCenter server upgrade

Note: vCenter Server 4.1 is supported only on 64 bit operating systems. As such, there is no in-place upgrade path for vCenter Server installs on 32 bit operating systems. If your vCenter Server is installed on a 32 bit operating system, you need to switch to a new 64 bit machine where vCenter Server 4.1 can be installed. Check out this VMware KB article for an overview of the database migration procedure using the vCenter Server 4.1 migration tools.

The installation detects the earlier vCenter server installation.

The installation detects the current vCenter server database and the used ODBC driver. Check whether the correct database is displayed to avoid upgrading the incorrect database.

Confirm that you want to upgrade your existing database and that you have made a back-up before starting the upgrade process.

Specify if you want the upgrade process to upgrade your vCenter agents automatically or manually. If you want minimal disruption, choose the automatic option, although VMware HA and FT will continue to function when disconnected from the vCenter server..

Enter the password for the vCenter server service account.

Check the ports used by vCenter server. In my home test environment the changes made for the previous vCenter server installation were neatly preserved.

Then a new vCenter server installation feature. Select your vSphere setup to correctly size the memory used for the vCenter server Java Virtual Machine (JVM) memory.

There are three options, Small <100 hosts, Medium >100 hosts <400 hosts, Large > 400 hosts.
Personally I think I will never use the Medium and Large option although I would love to setup such a huge environment.

When you’ve passed these 7 screens, the installation process has enough information to upgrade your previous vCenter server installation.

Next, the vSphere client upgrade.

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Page 1 – vCenter server upgrade
Page 2 – vSphere client upgrade
Page 3 – Update Manager upgrade
Page 4 - ESX host upgrade

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Pages: 1 2 3 4

Tags: upgrade, VMware, vSphere

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 10:13 and is filed under How To, VMware, vSphere. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About Erik Scholten

Erik Scholten is the founder of VMGuru.nl and works for Imtech ICT as a Solution Architect creating the most ingenious virtual infrastructures. He has over 14 years experience as a system engineer and consultant and now he specializes in virtualization. His current job includes selling, presenting, designing and developing virtual infrastructures for some major companies in the Netherlands. In 2009, 2010 and 2011 VMware awarded him the vExpert award for his virtualization community efforts.

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donkarnash

HI,

I have vcenter 4.0 update 1 with 3 hosts in cluster & HA installed on windows 2003 32bit server.

I have to upgrade to vcenter 4.1 and installed sql express edition

I have moved all vm's from one host to remaining other two.

I have installed ESXi 4.1 build 260247 on one host.

Then created a vm – windows 2008 R2 64bit – installed vcenter 4.1 & vpshere client build 258902.

I ran the agent pre-upgrade check on the existing vcenter.

Also ran backup.bat under datamigration on the existing vcenter.

I copied the vcenter 4.1 installation files and datamigration folder to new server.

I have different host name and different IP address for this new vcenter.

I can login to the vcenter on new host but obviously it is empty.

Now…I need some guidance here.

I do not know if I need to migrate the existing db to new server ??

if yes — how — what are the steps as I do not have SQL Server Management Studio on win 2003 vcenter server.

if no — do I just run the install.bat on the new vcenter server ????

I know I will have to update the configuration files manually as the host name and IP address are different.

which specific files are these ????

Can you please guide me.

Many thanks
Trupel

Thanks for the info! very helpful
Mr Sarge

wy ist it necessary to install the pre-upgrade package via esxupdate before the upgrade with VUM?
http://www.vmguru.nl Erik Scholten

In my opinion, migration or fresh install depends on the amount of configuration in vCenter. If you have a small scale install with a few hosts, a few resource pools, some HA and DRS config, and don't mind losing the performance history, do a fresh install. If performance history is critical and you have a large scale installation with many hosts and maybe additional tools like SRM, I would perform an upgrade.
http://www.vmguru.nl Erik Scholten

Honestly? I have no idea.Maybe to fix a bug which prohibits the update with VUM but that's just speculation.
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John Doe

Nice work Erik and posted just one day after 4.1 is out.
Keep the good work.
Patters

@donkarnash I had the same problem as you by the sound of it. I wrote up a workaround here:
http://pcloadletter.co.uk/2010/07/26/upgrading-…
Sascha Berlin/Germany

many thanks for this how to!

It works fine.
FM

Hi

Looking at upgrading vCenter 4.0 update 1 to vCenter 4.1 and have a DSN question.

The 4.1 upgrade guide says it needs a 64bit DSN, whilst the previous versions used a 32bit DSN.

I created an additional 64bit DSN to point to the vCenter DB – the aiming being to get the installer to use this.

When I run the 4.1 installation it reports I have an earlier version of vCenter alredy installed and it will upgrade this version.In the database options window it detects the 32bit DSN – so I cannot specify the 64bit DSN I created earlier. The next window has the upgrade options for the database, however I'm reluctant to continue on as it's using the 32bit DSN.

Any advice?
http://www.vmguru.nl Erik Scholten

@Home I forgot to update my DSN before the upgrade and updated my vSPhere setup without any problems. Afterwards I removed the 32 bit DSN and replaced it with a 64 bit DSN. No problem.
FM

Cheers for the info.

I shall let the installer continue with the upgrade process, and then check the DSN details.
http://twitter.com/mikek70 Mike Kellenberger

thanks for this how-to! works like a charm and my (first-time) upgrade much easier!
Raed

Hi All:
My Name is Raed, Honestly I just finish the course for VSPHERE 4.1 installation & Implementation , Currently i am running ESXI 3.5 on 3 hosts with No VCENTER , Update Manager … ETC, Actually i am not the person who did the installation for the current 3.5 but now i want to do the upgrade for the current to 4.1, bulding a VCenter and Start enjoy using 4.1 features.

any recommendations or guides according to what mentioned ?

Thank you very much …..
Regards

http://www.vmguru.nl Erik Scholten

Just build a vCenter 4.1 with update manager, add the ESX3.5 host to the new vCenter server and upgrade according to the ‘how to’ above